Priority one: Saving the playhouse

Published: Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at 7:44 p.m.

Let’s start with this premise: the Flat Rock Playhouse is too important to the economy, culture and history of Henderson County to be allowed to die — despite financial problems and mistakes that have left the theater in dire straits.

Next, it is evident that it will be up to supporters of the playhouse to raise the necessary funds to get the theater through this winter. Leaders from the local level to the General Assembly all say the playhouse is an asset but are not willing to commit more money than they already have.

On Tuesday, N.C. Sen. Tom Apodaca and N.C. Rep. Chuck McGrady said the state’s budget process precludes the General Assembly from helping the playhouse in its emergency campaign to raise $250,000. With the Legislature out of session, “we can’t do anything until April or May at the earliest,” Apodaca said. And even then, additional funding for the 60-year-old theater will be a tough sell during lean times, legislators say.

Apodaca says he’s willing to ask the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources to consider increasing its allocation to the playhouse above the $68,000 the state now gives. But the state has higher priorities, such as education and law enforcement, that eclipse funding for the arts.

Last week, three county commissioners suggested the state get more involved in funding the playhouse, which is designated as North Carolina’s state theater, even as the board discussed withholding part of its local funding. Apodaca scoffed at that idea.

“In North Carolina, we have a state theater, we have a state tree, we have a state dog,” he said. “They’re called that, but the state doesn’t give money to all those things.”

Maybe so, but the pine tree and the Plott hound have not been integral to Henderson County’s tourism economy for decades. The playhouse has.

Yet even the local Tourism Development Authority could not agree Tuesday on a plan to help boost both tourism and the playhouse. The proposal was for the TDA to buy $25,000 to $50,000 worth of 2013 playhouse tickets to distribute to local hotels, motels and inns to use as an incentive to bring in more tourists.

Some TDA board members are worried the plan to buy tickets would be a risky investment. “If they go into bankruptcy, then we’ve lost the money,” Phyllis Rogers of Flat Rock said, echoing the same rationale some commissioners have used for withholding funding.

With all the recent talk about the possibility of the playhouse going bankrupt or closing, we as a community had better be sure this does not become a self-fulfilling prophecy. From Henderson County to New York City, numerous benefits are planned in coming weeks to help raise the $250,000 that playhouse officials say they need to stay afloat in the near term.

Theater lovers across Western North Carolina and the nation will have to step up to ensure that the playhouse survives.

u Coming Sunday: What playhouse management and Henderson County should do.

<p>Let’s start with this premise: the Flat Rock Playhouse is too important to the economy, culture and history of Henderson County to be allowed to die  despite financial problems and mistakes that have left the theater in dire straits.</p><p>Next, it is evident that it will be up to supporters of the playhouse to raise the necessary funds to get the theater through this winter. Leaders from the local level to the General Assembly all say the playhouse is an asset but are not willing to commit more money than they already have.</p><p>On Tuesday, N.C. Sen. Tom Apodaca and N.C. Rep. Chuck McGrady said the state’s budget process precludes the General Assembly from helping the playhouse in its emergency campaign to raise $250,000. With the Legislature out of session, we can’t do anything until April or May at the earliest, Apodaca said. And even then, additional funding for the 60-year-old theater will be a tough sell during lean times, legislators say.</p><p>Apodaca says he’s willing to ask the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources to consider increasing its allocation to the playhouse above the $68,000 the state now gives. But the state has higher priorities, such as education and law enforcement, that eclipse funding for the arts.</p><p>Last week, three county commissioners suggested the state get more involved in funding the playhouse, which is designated as North Carolina’s state theater, even as the board discussed withholding part of its local funding. Apodaca scoffed at that idea.</p><p>In North Carolina, we have a state theater, we have a state tree, we have a state dog, he said. They’re called that, but the state doesn’t give money to all those things.</p><p>Maybe so, but the pine tree and the Plott hound have not been integral to Henderson County’s tourism economy for decades. The playhouse has.</p><p>Yet even the local Tourism Development Authority could not agree Tuesday on a plan to help boost both tourism and the playhouse. The proposal was for the TDA to buy $25,000 to $50,000 worth of 2013 playhouse tickets to distribute to local hotels, motels and inns to use as an incentive to bring in more tourists.</p><p>Some TDA board members are worried the plan to buy tickets would be a risky investment. If they go into bankruptcy, then we’ve lost the money, Phyllis Rogers of Flat Rock said, echoing the same rationale some commissioners have used for withholding funding.</p><p>With all the recent talk about the possibility of the playhouse going bankrupt or closing, we as a community had better be sure this does not become a self-fulfilling prophecy. From Henderson County to New York City, numerous benefits are planned in coming weeks to help raise the $250,000 that playhouse officials say they need to stay afloat in the near term.</p><p>Theater lovers across Western North Carolina and the nation will have to step up to ensure that the playhouse survives.</p><p>u Coming Sunday: What playhouse management and Henderson County should do.</p>